d you know it!"

Thelismer Thornton, god of that particular machine that was then
grinding so ominously and rattling so badly, felt that he needed a few
moments in which to mend belts and adjust cogs. He wanted an opportunity
to think a little while. He had discovered a new Waymouth all of a
sudden. He wanted to get acquainted with him. He wished to find out
whether he would be really as dangerous as his astonishing threats
indicated.

The persistent man at the door was now clamorous. The Duke strode that
way and flung it open. Whoever it might be, the interruption would give
him time to think, to plan, to investigate.

The intruder was the Hon. David Everett. He stepped in, and Thornton
relocked the door after him.

Mr. Everett was not amiable. His little eyes snapped from face to face
suspiciously. It was immediately and perfectly plain to him that he had
forced admission to a conference that had not expected him, did not want
him, and was embarrassed at finding him present. In the state of mind
they were in, the men in that room would have glowered at any one.
Everett detected something more than mere personal resentment at his
intrusion--he sniffed a plot against him. There was no hand outstretched
to him, no welcome, no explanation offered why these leaders of the
party had met thus without intimation to him that anything was afoot.
Choleric red suffused his face--it had been gray with passion when he
entered, because a corridor filled with curious men is not a happy arena
for a candidate shut out of committee headquarters.

He realized that he had been a spectacle inciting interest and some
amusement while he was hammering on the door.

One object of the Duke had been attained when he admitted Everett--the
wrangling ceased. But the embarrassment was intensified. The situation
was more complex.

"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, if I am interrupting serious business,"
began Everett, intending to force some sort of explanation.

He waited. No one spoke. The others were waiting, too.

The candidate looked from one to the other, and then surveyed Wasgatt
and the papers he was clutching. He eyed General Waymouth with much
interest and some surprise. He had not been informed of that gentleman's
presence in the hotel. The General returned the gaze with serenity,
creasing his sheet of manuscript on the table with his thin fingers.

"I expected to be called in when you were ready to go over the
platform," continue